If you're new to #COLLABOREADS, welcome! Amber and I have been hosting this fun little online book club since way back when in 2015! We pick a theme every month (so everyone's reading different books) and then all link up and share our thoughts (with a handy-dandy R.E.A.D.S. acronym usually) and link up and become BFFs. You can read more about this whole thing here.

This month was all about books to better yourself.

Amber read one called The Buddha Walks Into a Bar, so you can read her review about that (you know you want to!) right here! Here's my review of The Road to Character:

Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our “résumé virtues”—achieving wealth, fame, and status—and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed.

Looking to some of the world’s greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character.

— the Amazon review for The Road to Character

Riveting.

What part of the book could you NOT get enough of? This book was super interesting to me, because it was nothing like I expected. I had grabbed it as a bestseller at B&N a long time ago, but hadn't actually ever opened it. I am not a self-help hater, so the idea of a book focused on building strong inner character fascinated me. The stories he told, of influential people throughout time, were intriguing and like mini-biographies that were well-written, fun to read, enlightening, personal, and real. They made his ideas real in different and relatable ways.

Elements.

How did you relate to/care for the characters? "Characters" isn't really the right word for this non-fiction read, but the people he featured in the different biographical chapters all interested me SO much, even if they were from a totally different era or had next to nothing in common with me. So basically, I loved them all, and really want to know even more about each of them after reading about their lives from this angle of their character.

What's your thought on the plot line and twists and turns? I loved how this book was arranged, taking themed focuses but then sharing anecdotes through the life of one person to illustrate the points. Less of a plot and more of a very-well arranged and interesting group of character studies with deeper meanings/implications for our own lives.

Associate.

What other books are like this one? That's a great question. There are hints of Brene Brown, but super different still, so it's hard to draw a strong correlation there.

Design.

What did you think of it? I think it's simple and bold, nothing terribly thrilling or amazing, but it caught my eye, so I think it did its job well.

Stars.

How many out of five do you give this book? Would you recommend this book to a friend? This book gets 4/5 stars for me! A strong recommendation to people like me who are interested in and fascinated by inner character, personalities, passion, living a life of devotion to causes, following callings, believing in bigger things, etc.

LET'S LINK UP.

Leave some love on the posts of old and new friends, too! That's the whole beauty of this baby.

And now, for FEBRUARY:

A LITERARY CLASSIC

Find a book that fits the category (here's a list to get you started!), read it throughout the coming month, and join us with your review as we link up again on February 29!